While locally grown corn is still in the stores and farmers markets, our garden plot has yielded exactly five ears, just enough for one batch of corn chowder. This recipe is based on one by Sarah Fristchner, food editor of the Louisville, Ky., Courier-Journal. Serves 4. –Kristen Browning-Blas

Ingredients

3 smallish potatoes (I used red, but any kind would work)

1 cup chicken stock (or water)

5 ears fresh corn

1 rib celery

1 medium onion

1 1/4 teaspoons salt

2 1/2 cups whole milk

2 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon bacon grease (optional)

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/4 cup low-fat sour cream

1 4-ounce can mild chopped green chiles (optional)

Directions

Peel and cube potatoes. Put into a deep pot with stock or water and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce to low, and cover pot.

Remove husks from corn. Stand a corncob in a wide, deep bowl and, using a sharp knife, slice down to remove the kernels from the cob. (Or use your preferred method of removing corn from the cob.) Set kernels aside.

Mexican restaurant Casa Bonita has been a memory-making institution for decades, filling children with countless sopapillas and dreams of plummeting from the top of a man-made, three-story indoor waterfall while people eat tacos, listen to Mariachi music and watch puppet shows around them.